"I'm retired 20 years. The last thing I would have ever wanted was an E-3 after I've counseled him or given him extra duty or gave him a bad performance report to be wearing a gun. Wake up. Who needs to be wearing a gun while working in the motor pool, or climbing a tower, or making ID cards? Nonsense idea." -- BD

"I've been saying for quite some time that officers and [noncommissioned officers] should have the privilege and responsibility to carry a firearm on base. NCOs, for instance, have generally proven their maturity and leadership and should be trusted. I'm not in favor of having new recruits who live in the barracks having possession of firearms. I started my career living in the barracks and can tell you that too much stuff goes on there and adding firearms to the mix is asking for bad things to happen. I'm retired now and have to visit my local base without my personal protection. I can live without my gun while visiting a base but it would sure be nice if I knew that responsible NCOs were packing heat and could respond to a situation while waiting for security police to show up." -- David Eberhardt

"This is not NEW news. The military has, and has had, many of these command and control aircraft for years. The 'silk purse' missions, 'looking glass,' National Emergency Airborne Command Post (NEACP), Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO) and on and on. Old news." -- Ben Wallace

"I wanted to make a joke but this is just not funny anymore. I wanted to express anger and indignation but I've begun to doubt whether the Department of the Navy still had people in charge that had any sense of shame. What am I left with? After leaving behind embarrassment and shame, all I have is a deep feeling of grief that what once was 10-times over the greatest maritime force in the world is now a shell of itself literally drifting on the currents of an increasingly screwed up world." -- S-Wadley

"This is the most advanced ship ever. Give them a break. They will fix it." -- TeXan1111

"Politicians have run the country up to this point and caused grave damage, not only to the integrity of this country but also [by] passing laws that keep them in power, which in turn have run up the national debt astronomically. Certainly a couple of generals can't be worse that the sorry politicians we have." -- John6185

"First off, retired and ex-military ARE civilians; the only difference is that they have military experience in their resumes. Would you rather have someone with no experience, or a lot of experience, to lead a particular group that needs some military expertise? Get over it; look what the ivory tower intellectuals have done for us over the past eight years." -- 17462385

"You'd think someone who actually experienced REAL torture would know the difference between coercion and torture. But you'd be wrong in McCain's case. Anybody who has seen waterboarding or experienced it knows it's not torture. Uncomfortable, yes. But then again, so is standing for 24 hours straight or many of the other techniques used to wear you down in interrogation." -- joeymegatron

"For all those who believe extreme torture is what we should practice, are they committed to the idea that what's good for the goose is good for the gander? In other words, would they wish to be interrogated that same way should they ever become a prisoner of war?" -- KWMJR